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Windows 7 is on its way. The RC is in the final stages of being released for program developers and IT pros on April 30, while the masses will have to wait until May 5. There is no word yet when it will come preloaded on PCs or available in shops but the estimate is July. Windows 7 should be easier to swallow than Vista with its new touchsceen functions and interaction with digital cameras and PMPs.

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As we told you the other day, the Windows 7 beta went live today. However, apparently there was a bit more demand than Microsoft had planned for. Thanks to NeoWin, we’ve got the direct download links for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7:

Be sure to check out the post on NeoWin for specifics on what to do with those files once you download, and also know that you will still need a key from Microsoft to use this through the August 1, 2009 expiration date, otherwise it will stop working after 30 days, cool?

During the kickoff Microsoft keynote that marks the start CES, Steve Ballmer announced that Windows 7 beta is available starting today for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. Nothing too exciting there for the average Joe, we know, which is why we were excited when he also mentioned that the beta would also be publicly available beginning this Friday, January 9th. You’ll be able to grab either the 32-bit version, or the 64-bit version of the Windows 7 beta software if you are one of the first 2.5 million people to hit the download button. You just need to head to the Windows 7 product page to do so. Just be aware that the beta software will expire on August 1, 2009.

As part of the release, Microsoft was also happy to note that Windows Live Essentials, “a free suite of communications and sharing applications that make it easy for people to communicate, share and keep their online lives in sync and in one place with one login,” is now also available on a worldwide scale.

So, you know that follow-up to Windows Vista that Microsoft has been working on for the past couple of years? They’ve been calling it Windows 7 for a while now, but we just thought that was going to be its codename. As it turns out, Microsoft just announced a few hours ago that Windows 7 is the official name of the next version of their operating system. Why not go with another cutesy name like Windows ME, XP, or Vista? Well, they say this is the seventh release of Windows, and that it “just makes sense.” Well, we guess it does. If you’ll be at WinHEC or PDC, you can plan on getting Windows 7 pre-beta code from Microsoft to play with.

So, word on the street is that part of the first day of the All Things D conference tonight will be the unveiling of the first time of the Windows 7 operating system by Microsoft. To be clear, we shouldn’t expect Windows 7 any sooner than 2010. That said, what is shown is very much a work in progress. If you can’t wait for the video footage, which we are sure is soon to come, we also have a bunch of Windows 7 screenshots in our gallery.

We see a lot of concepts in these images. An expanded bar at the bottom of the screen, an OS X-like dock, some sort of disc-based nav system that reminds of the OLPC OS, etc. Still, nice to see that things are progressing.